Beyond 4 Walls Pastor Elisia White cuts the ribbon at Harvest Square Mall
Harvest Square Mall celebrates the future
Contributed By: The 411 News
Beyond 4 Walls Christian Center shows how to invest in the community
Tuesday morning’s ribbon-cutting was more than a grand opening ceremony at Harvest Square Mall; it was also a celebration of building a community.
Three food shops – The Wrap Game, Harold’s Chicken, Beggar’s Pizza – and Blast Laundromat are already open in the mall at 877-887 S. Lake, in Gary’s Miller section.
Four more dining choices are coming to fill the remaining slots in the 8-unit strip mall.
Jerk-N-Go, Top of the Mornin’, The Shugga Shack and New Age Bakery are under construction.
Beyond 4 Walls Christian Center, led by pastors Dr. Maurice and Elisia White, developed and funded the building of the mall.
The phone was ringing with customer orders at The Wrap Game, but somebody had to go out to say a word at the ribbon cutting. Shod Walker’s words were very brief.
He and wife Leslie Walker opened at Harvest Square Mall in April, relocating from their Willowcreek Road location in Portage.
“I wanted to bring our store to Gary, where I first started off 12 years ago as Wrap City on Grant Street, with my mom,” Leslie said. “I feel like Gary is going to come back and I want to be a part of it.”
The Wrap Game’s menu features a variety of sandwich wraps, along with spuds and salads, jerk items and desserts.
“I saw you sneaking off to Miller’s Pizza,” said Beggar’s Pizza owner Quentin Grant. Beggar’s had temporarily closed at the mall.
“I’m letting you know Beggar’s is here. We want you to know we got a good team working. Did you know that Miller’s Pizza is telling people they ran us out of town,” Grant said.
Although still being constructed, Top of the Mornin’ handed out samples of shrimp and grits and Cajun chicken pasta from their grab-and-go breakfast and lunch menus.
Sisters Jennifer Smith and Shalona Reed from Homewoods are co-owners. “For breakfast, we are going to offer southern style, kind of Cajun-Creole skillets, chicken and waffles, pancakes, and platters. For lunch, we have some other southern meals that are going to be awesome,” Smith said.
“Something marvelous is happening here. For years and years, the church has been receiving; now we have a church that is giving to make sure we are moving from one level to the next,” said the guest speaker, Bishop Noel Jones of the City of Refuge Church in Gardena, California.
Beyond 4 Walls is an example for what churches must do in their communities, Bishop Jones said. “The church has to be community oriented. The church can no longer ignore the economic structure, the infrastructure, and educational structure.”
Leslie and Shod Walker, The Wrap Game
Jennifer Smith gives a Top of the Mornin’ sample to Elizabeth Gamble
Story Posted:07/10/2024
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